Electronic memory is used in all modern electronics such as computers mobile phones, digital radios, and televisions. It is also used in modern cars, boats, aircraft and many appliances such as microwave ovens. Electronic memory is often referred to as random access memory (RAM) as it allows stored data to be accessed in any order. This is different from optical and magnetic disc memory where the readout mechanism needs to be positioned on the physical location where the stored data is located resulting in a variable access time to a given data depending on the previous data that was accessed.
In RAM, the access time is the same for all data, which is a key advantage. A few examples of common electrical memories are dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), and flash memory. Electronic memory usually takes the form of integrated circuits.